The Mauryan Empire
Chandragupta Maurya
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- The first Indian empire was the Mauryan Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 321 BC.
- As well as founding the Mauryan Empire, Chandragupta Maurya, conquered almost all of India and is considered the first true emperor of India.
- Chandragupta Maurya, was the founder of the Maurya Empire. He succeeded in conquering almost all of the Indian subcontinent and is considered the first unifier of India as well as its first genuine emperor
- As he seized land, he met an adversary, a general of Alexander the Great, Seleucus 1, who wanted to take control of the Mauryan Empire and eventually all of India. Chandragupta defeated Seleucus 1 and by doing so, conquered and united all of North India for the first time. He was also becoming increasingly unpopular with the people after raising taxes to feed and pay his vast army.
- Chandragupta relied a lot on his main adviser, Kautilya who was a Brahmin or member of the priestly respected caste. Kautilya wrote the Arthasastra, for the Emperor to hemp him rule his empire. The Arthasastra, said that to hold an empire together you must have strict laws and policies, thus creating a highly bureaucratic government.
Ashoka
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- The next major emperor of India was Chandragupta's grandson, Ashoka. Ashoka was becoming just like his grand-father, in the way he conquered land by declaring war. But after all the slaughter, Ashoka couldn't help but feel tremendous guilt and sorrow. He started studying Buddhism and began to rule with the core Buddhist beliefs like 'peace to all beings' in mind'.
The Empire Falls
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- Ashoka provided great infrastructure and promoted noble policies of nonviolence and tolerance which helped keep the empire together. But as soon as he died, regional kings broke away from the empire.
- Along with the fall of the Mauryan Empire, India also had to withstand the hordes of people fleeing from their home countries. They created an entirely new culture by introducing new languages, customs, and inventions.
Trade
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India was a very rich country. Not just in culture, but also in raw materials and goods, like spices, gems, and
Silk Roads were a series of crisscrossing trade routes that cut back and forth, across Europe and Asia. Both sea and land trade routes were important for the Silk Roads. These passages were vital for trade and communication across the known world. (They also brought many new inventions from the East (India & China) on to the new Western civilization???).
Silk Roads were a series of crisscrossing trade routes that cut back and forth, across Europe and Asia. Both sea and land trade routes were important for the Silk Roads. These passages were vital for trade and communication across the known world. (They also brought many new inventions from the East (India & China) on to the new Western civilization???).